The Place Where Everything Begins

After some minutes had passed...

"If you finish writing, please put your paper piece inside this wooden box."

When Mitchell saw everyone had finally finished writing the votes, he let Joshua, who proposed the anonymous voting method, carry onto the wooden box. Obviously, the said box was bought from the Shop a moment ago.

It could be seen that the [Miscellaneous] option was pretty convenient in many ways...

One by one...

People started walking towards Joshua and put their voting paper inside the box in his hands. Among those people, some still looked hesitant, some looked resolute, and some didn't show any expression at all.

Soon after, everyone within the clearing had finally completed the voting part. So, the following processes would be counting the vote and announcing the result, respectively.

"Is there anyone who hasn't put their voting paper inside the box?"

Mitchell asked aloud but saw no one raised any issue as many people shook their heads slightly in denial, whereas others only kept quiet and waited patiently.

After seeing that no one had any objection, Mitchell spoke up once again,

"Good then. Let's count the votes together. Anna, bring the box here..."

Thus, the counting and the announcing process commenced...

Then Michell put his right hand inside the wooden box and pulled out a piece of folded paper before unfolding it slowly.

Afterward, Mitchell took a look briefly at the word written on the paper and then flipped it to the other side for everyone to see.

"Alright, the first vote is, No."

Mitchell spoke the first vote loudly before giving the paper piece to Anna at his side. Then he proceeded on with the same processes as earlier...

"The second is, Yes."

"The third is, Yes."

"The fourth is, No."

"The fifth is, No."

"The sixth is, Yes."

"The seventh..."

"The eig..."

"The..."

...

The process of counting and announcing the results had been in progress for more than three minutes.

Then Mitchell announced the following vote...

"The twenty-ninth is, No."

"..."

"..."

After the second to last vote was pronounced and shown for everyone to hear and see, most people suddenly held their breath.

Then...

*Murmur*

*Murmur*

As always, the murmuring voices of people talking occurred within the crowd again after Mitchell had announced the twenty-ninth's vote, which was 'No'.

Surprisingly enough, the past votes for the kill and no-kill were approximately the same in number, with fourteen for 'Yes' and fifteen for 'No'.

That's right... the current votes favored the 'no-kill' more than the 'kill'...

Even if there was no one to judge them here...

Even if they were not on Earth, which was enforced with legal laws anymore...

Even if no one knew what choice they would choose for the voting...

More than half of the people here still couldn't accept the 'new normal' for their upcoming inhabitation on the planet named Ortus, for they still chose 'not to kill' the guilty one, Benjamin.

Well, it couldn't be helped; adaptation took time anyway as it was a slow subconscious process...

Still...

"It's you, right? Why do you choose not to kill? Bitch!!"

"No... I... I choose..."

"Who the fuck in their right mind chooses not to kill the damned bastard? Show your-fucking-selves!!"

"Don't you bloody want to leave this shit place? Or do you want more people to die first? Damn it!!"

"Why...?"

Even though the final voting result hadn't come out yet, many people had already started questioning and blaming others like it was their fault.

When Mitchell, who was responsible for counting the votes, saw the situation started becoming more hectic and uncontrollable, he hurriedly shouted,

"Calm down!! There is still one more voting paper left within the box."

"Fuck!!"

"Alright, let's see the final one first..."

"..."

"..."

Only when those hot-headed combatants, who fought with their lives on the line for eight consecutive waves, had heard that there was still one more vote left to be accounted for, they started to calm down a bit.

However, if the last vote was still a 'No', it seemed like they would flare up even more, and they might flip the table before going directly to kill Benjamin regardless of the outcome of the voting.

Eventually, the calm atmosphere reigned in once again, with people waiting patiently for the final vote.

But everyone knew within their hearts that it was just the calm before a big storm...

*Sigh*

Mitchell let out a short sigh after seeing everyone's eyes fixing intently on the wooden box. Then he thought,

'Like this, the final result can only be no-kill or draw. Still... why the heck half of the people here choose to spare the bastard? Who votes for 'No' anyway; the children and elderly? The nurse? Who else? Hmm... I'm pretty sure Bob and Derek have chosen to spare the guy...'

'Whatever... it couldn't be helped. Let's see the last vote...'

When Mitchell finished his puzzling and unthinkable thoughts, he reached out his hand towards the wooden box slowly...

*Gulp*

*Gulp*

"..."

"..."

Some people gulped from the immediate thriller, some kept quiet with furrowed eyebrows, some closed their eyes in fear of the final result...

At last, it had finally come to the final vote...

The vote which would decide everyone's fate...

Mitchell didn't let other people wait for long, as his hand had finally caught the last paper within the box before bringing it out slowly from the said container.

Then Mitchell brought the voting paper before his eyes and opened it bit by bit...

Before long, a single word on the paper appeared before his eyes...

Then...

After Mitchell's eyes had finally laid upon the word on the paper, they widened considerably.

*Sigh*

Mitchell sighed in defeat before turning his head to look Eddie in the eyes for a split second...

That signal from Mitchell was enough to make Eddie's heart skip a beat. Thus, the latter thought in doubt,

'Don't fucking tell me...'

Meanwhile, Mitchell shifted his sight back towards the crowd before finally saying,

"The thirtieth is..."

Suddenly...

An almost rounded object the size of a watermelon flew from some distance away, dropping in front of Mitchell's feet...

*Thud*

*Thud*

The said object rolled three or four rounds on the hard ground before finally stopping...

When everyone saw the sudden appearance of the thing, they intended to criticize the perpetrator for interrupting their important activity.

However...

"!!!"

"!!!"

Upon seeing what the thing actually was, everyone's eyes widened in absolute shock...

"Ha... Head...?"

"Kiaaaaah!!!"

"What the!?"

"Aaarghh!!"

"It's the head of..."

Everyone felt so panicked at the head suddenly being thrown at them...

Especially Mitchell, who stood the nearest to the said head, which was continuously oozing fresh blood, took two steps back in startle.

"What the fuck..." Mitchell mumbled audibly.

Right when he finally knew whose head it belonged to, his eyes behind the transparent glasses widened even more...

"That is... Benjamin's head?" Mitchell uttered those words in a startle.

When everyone's mind was blown by the sudden appearance of Benjamin's head, a certain someone's voice was heard...

"No need for further implications as I've already killed the so-called murderer for you guys."

The black-cloaked Jeremy said with a smile while strolling towards the crowd...

"Now, you guys can finally scram from here; isn't that good, by the way?"

Jeremy added those words with an evil grin plastered on his face...

...

[A/N: The savior and the killer... is the same person.]